To wonder what the country would be like of we all live in ha/council houses

And no one owned property? If everyone lived in a space that was good for them and their family and we all paid the same based on space ie 1 bedroom = PCM 2 bedroom = a bit more PCM. This would mean that no one would get the rough end of the deal as mps would also be in the same situation. Fair rent for everyone, money constantly going to the government. I wonder if it'd encourage people to have more children or prohibit them from wanting more I they had to move to allow for another bedroom but then had to pay more? Probably flawed massively somehow but I don't see why it couldn't work?

Progress is achieved when people strive to "better" themselves & getting a bigger/swankier home is an ambition most of us have. If you've already gotten as far as you ever will in those terms, you reach stalemate.

Your idea works well in ideological terms, but not in practice. Bit like communism itself, actually.

It wasn't really that way under communism because the housing stock was from pre-communist times and was therefore variable, giving people the opportunity to want to 'rise above their station'. Also, half the corrupt party members had their holiday homes etc.It would only work if all housing was more or less similar, although obviously different in size, and if it had been that way from the word go.Personally, I'd love to see it, but it isn't going to happen.

Dawn Yes, but it was the same general idea in communism countries. If they'd been starting from scratch and building new housing, this is what they'd have wanted to achieve. And you're right - corruption reared it's head & made the whole system unfair and unworkable.

If you've ever been to some parts of eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, you'll see that some of the motorways still have separated lanes. There was a special lane for members of the Communist Party, and only their vehicles were allowed to travel in the special lane. The argument was that Party officials were important and if they were delayed in their travel, The State might suffer - so they got private roads which only they could travel on.

hmm, so everyone's housing security would be based on the one landlord (governemnt) and there would be no way to provide for yourself? Your lifestyle would be completely out of your control and controlled by government policy? You'd have to pay rent for the rest of your life, never actually (as large swaths of the population do now) stop having housing costs after 20 or so years. You'd have to live where you were allocated, not where you wanted. You would have less control over when you move and where to.

In theory, this is how it works in the Netherlands. It's very common to rent there and a certain percentage of properties in each area have to be set aside for rental. When buying property, your solicitor has to run searches to check whether the owner is actually permitted to live in it.

They have a rent control system, meaning that landlords can't charge whatever they like and a government body that you can appeal to if you think you're paying too much or your property isn't well maintained.

For the most part, the system is good, but illegal subletting is a problem as once people secure a property in an amazing location at a cheap price, they are reluctant to release it onto someone else if they go travelling or move in with a partner.

True communism has never actually been tried though - it's always been corrupt in some way as some people are more equal than others.

I wasn't really thinking about it in a communist way actually although that's ideologically what I'd like. You could still decorate how you want, put your own kitchen in etc and aspire to have nicer stuff If that's what you want... Just thinking about over crowding, homelessness etc.

What about then if you could own property and people could rent out their properties but rent charge was was the same as ha/council rent? Everyone's rent is the same based on space. So a 2 bed house is always £ PCM so everyone's in a fair rent situation?

The thing that could allow it to work is that everyone would be in the same boat including the government. So if things were shit for you then they'd be shit for them too and maybe things would improve. If things were good for those in power then it would mean things would be good for everyone as no one is above anyone else in that respect at least.

It would be awful imo. I live in council housing and they can't maintain what they have now properly. So if they had every house/flat now it would end up looking rundown and people living in terrible conditions.

I find the knee jerk reactions to this question a little strange. It does not necessarily mean communism. People a very frightened of thinking in a slightly different way. Just because all housing would be government owned, doesn't mean state sanctioned living. That's a logical fallacy presuming that one thing would automatically lead to another.

I think there would be a massive brain-drain as everyone who could emigrated to a less totalitarian regime. After several hundred years of democracy I doubt many would take kindly to living in an endless identikit suburbia. And what about all of the really nice houses? Are they all going to be bulldozed and only housing to the lowest common denominator built in their place?

In my town the majority of properties are owned by the housing association. Renting like this is normal. It's not what poor, desperate people do. It's what lots of people do. If you want to buy, house prices are reasonable too (60k for a 2 bed detached, 15k for a 1 bed flat).

There is usually a bit of wait for a rented place but it's next to nothing. My daughter is a student and wanted to move out and live with her boyfriend in the town where their university is. They had to wait 3 months until a council owned student flat became available. As a student flat it's theirs until they graduate (no coming home in the holidays) and their rent includes heating, electricty and a laundry. When they graduate they will be given the opportunity to move into a 1 or 2 bed flat where they will have to pay their own bills.

Disclaimer: Stockholm is a different kettle of fish with a massive housing problem like the uk (not enough to go round and astronomical prices to buy)